Georgetown lands atop final NAIA poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – National champion Georgetown (Ky.) lands in the No. 1 position in the 2012 – 13 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll, announced Wednesday by the national office. The Tigers, who won their second national title in school history on March 19, collected all 11 first-place votes and 281 total points. The top billing is a first for Georgetown since March 5, 2008.

Georgetown replaces Columbia (Mo.), who was No. 1 for the previous eight polls. The Tigers defeated SAGU (Texas) in the title contest by an 88-62 score. Chris Briggs was named the Rawlings-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year and Vic Moses earned the national co-player of the year award. The Tigers ended the season at 28-8 overall and closed with five-straight wins.

National runner-up SAGU finished with the No. 2 ranking and 272 total points. The 33 wins is a school record as the Lions narrowly missed out on the first national championship in the sport of men’s basketball. Dominique Rambo shared national co-player of the year honors with Moses of Georgetown.

No. 3 Lindsey Wilson fell one spot with 262 points. The Blue Raiders advanced to their first-ever championship semifinal contest, bowing out to SAGU, 80-64. No. 4 LSU Shreveport (La.) garnered 254 total points and was the best improvement from the March 6 edition. The Pilots made it to the Fab Four of the national championship and sprung up 21 positions.

Former No. 1 Columbia dropped to the fifth spot with 245 points. The Cougars finished with a 35-1 overall record and was the last men’s team to lose this year among all college levels (NAIA, NCAA). The 35 victories are the most of any NAIA program in a single-season since 2007 when national champion Oklahoma City won 35 games.

No. 10 Culver-Stockton (Mo.) and No. 13 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) out of the Heart of America Athletic Conference both climbed in as newcomers. The two programs punched tickets to the quarterfinals before having their seasons end with losses.

Arizona Christian (No. 19) and Montana State-Northern (No. 24) both dropped out of the Top 25.

No. 19 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) fell the farthest within the poll. Ranked fifth on March 6 and in the top 10 in 10 of the previous 11 polls overall, the Warriors stumbled in the first round of the national championship.

The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all conferences or unaffiliated groups with four Top 25 programs: No. 8 Lee (Tenn.), No. 14 Faulkner (Ala.), No. 21 William Carey (Miss.) and No. 25 Emmanuel (Ga.). The Heart of America Athletic Conference, Mid-South Conference and Red River Athletic Conference each landed a trio of ranked programs. Overall, all 11 conferences and unaffiliated groups are represented this week.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conference and unaffiliated groups. For more information on the polls, click here.

NOTES: (All information dates back to 2000 – 01 season) Georgetown (Ky.) earned its 11th top ranking since 2000, which is fourth on the list… Both Culver-Stockton (Mo.) and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) were ranked at least once previously this season… No. 1 Columbia (Mo.), who held the No. 1 ranking for eight weeks earlier this year, marked the longest continuous stretch since Mountain State (W.Va.) went nine-straight weeks at No. 1 during the 2009 – 10 season… There were 45 different teams represented through 13 polls this season (includes Preseason Top 25)… There were five teams to hold the No. 1 ranking this year: Georgetown (Ky.) joins Columbia, Concordia (Calif.), Cumberlands (Ky.) and Oklahoma Baptist… Oklahoma Baptist leads the active group of being ranked with 63-straight mentions (which dates back to March 5, 2008), followed by Montana State-Northern at 28, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at 25, Xavier (La.) at 24, Lee (Tenn.) at 23 and Columbia at 22… Since the 2000 – 01 season, there have been 25 different teams to hold the No. 1 ranking, with eight of those program having five-or-more listings on top of the charts…Former NAIA member Mountain State (W.Va.) leads this group with 48 No. 1 rankings, followed by Robert Morris with 24, Concordia (Calif.) is next with 12, Georgetown (Ky.) is at 11, Columbia at eight and Rogers State at seven… Robert Morris is the only program to start and end a season ranked No. 1, doing so during the 2006 – 07 season.

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